Volume 1, Issue 1
Christmas 2008
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Follow the route taken by Costa’s Horses, or go up the hill from Spiros No.1 and on to the headland overlooking Roda, and you will find this seemingly impossible combination. They are not strawberries, of course, but from a distance, in October, you could be mistaken for thinking so.
The Greek Strawberry Tree, a close cousin to the Arbutus sold for more northern gardens, is an ericacious evergreen shrub or tree that lives happily alongside wild myrtle, bay and holly across much of the Greek ‘phrygana’ – similar to the French scrubland known as ‘maquis’.
In Greek mythology, the strawberry tree was regarded as being sacred to Hermes, for he was said to have been nursed beneath the boughs of such a tree.
In Greek mythology, the strawberry tree was regarded as being sacred to Hermes, for he was said to have been nursed beneath the boughs of such a tree.
The caterpillar of the two-tailed pasha butterfly, an exotic, southern Mediterranean insect, feeds exclusively on the Strawberry Tree.
The small fruits are safe to eat, but they are a little bland – not a bit like the tasty summer fruits that we all know and love. We have tried to make a liqueur out of them with sugar and spirit; a pleasant pinkish drink, again without a lot of taste. So, perhaps they are best left to admire for their striking shape and colour, and their important place in the wild Greek countryside.
There are a great many gastronomic delights in Corfu, and visitors to Roda wallow in the freshness, taste and colour of the local fruit and other produce. It is easy to see why the Greeks eat more vegetables than the rest of us. If I had to pick one special item to stand head and shoulders above all others, it must surely be the fig. Due to the difficulty of transporting ripe figs undamaged, the very best figs are only found in the countries where they grow. A fresh fig, straight from the tree, is a completely different commodity than anything you can buy outside of this area and if you have never tried one, you should instantly change your holiday plans for next year so that you are in Roda in August.
Not only is their taste exquisite, but figs are beneficial to liver function, they are a laxative, they are a restorative and increase
They look good,
they taste good and, by golly, they do you good!
they taste good and, by golly, they do you good!
business was to be a state monopoly and all fig growers were obliged to sell their entire produce to the state. The word ‘sycophant’ literally means ‘showing the figs’ and was used for those who informed against others for exporting figs or for stealing the fruit of the sacred fig-trees.
‘If you don't care a fig, you may grow up to be a pig’; if you don’t try a fig, you will have missed out on one of life’s greatest pleasures.
vitality, they relieve coughs & asthma and they are used as a diuretic. They are one of the highest plant sources of calcium. They look good, they taste good and, by golly, they do you good!
So important were figs to the ancient Greeks, that Athens decreed the very profitable fig
The Splendour of the Fig
One of the most important words to have transcended the generations and now firmly ensconced in English is the very word that governs everything you have just read – alphabet.
Most of us will realise that this word is made up from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, α & β, otherwise known as alpha & beta. These are the first of twenty-four letters that have been used to write the Greek language since the 8th century BC and it was the first system to use separate symbols for each vowel & consonant.
It is the oldest script in use in the world today.
It’s All
Greek...!
Greek...!